Bare Metal: Hungarian workers go shirtless for a good cause

By Krisztina Fenyo

BUDAPEST, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Janos Bocs, a Hungarian metalworker, wears only his protective work apron as he poses for a camera, showing his tattoos and beer belly, his long hair blown by an industrial fan that is usually used to cool down metal objects.   

Bocs, 42, is modelling for an annual charity calendar, done by a team of metalworkers in a workshop in Budapest, inside what remains of a vast industrial complex that used to be a major hub for Hungary’s communist-era steel and heavy metallurgy.

"We are not these muscly perfect poster guys but real people, maybe that is why it is so popular," Bocs says proudly about the calendar. Profits from sales will be used to buy supplies for schools in need.

The team published its first calendar last year and sold about 100 copies. They used the profits, about 500,000 forints ($1,524.81), to buy a smart board for a school. 

This year, after local media reported on their project, they received about a thousand orders, allowing them to support several schools.

All members of the team, who have been working together for decades, were happy to strip half-naked for the good cause, Janos Somogyi, another worker told Reuters.

"This is who we are, and I don't think we look so very unhealthy in the photos. Any man under a hundred kilos is just a bookmark," Somogyi jokes. 

The main goal is to raise money for the schools, but they also hope their photos will inspire more young people to learn metallurgy, a trade that is not popular at the moment in Hungary.

($1 = 327.9100 forints)

(Writing by Anita Komuves; Editing by David Gregorio)